Refrigerator door and gasket construction



-T. RUNDELL REFRIGERATOR DOOR AND GASKET CONSTRUCTION Jan. 5, 1943.

Filed July 1, 1940 Patented Jan. 5, .1943

REFRIGERATOR nooR AND GASKET ooNs'rRUc'rIoN' Theodore W. Randell,Jenkintown, Pa., assignor,

y Philadelphia, Pa.,

vanla mesne assignments, to Philco Corporation,

a corporation of Pennsyl- Application July 1 1940, Serial No. 343,489

A 3 Claims. This invention relates to new and useful improvements indomestic refrigerator cabinets and more particularly to the constructionand arrangement of the doors and sealing gaskets therefor.

It is, of course, well understood that gasket members have heretoforebeen employed at the door openings of refrigerator cabinets for sealingthe door openings against the circulation of air More specifically itisshell thereby improving both the operation and appearance of therefrigerator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator door andgasket construction of. the character described which is unusually neatand appealing in appearance.

A further object of the invention is to provide I a novel refrigeratordoor and gasket construction wherein the constructionarrangement of therefrigerator door gasket is-such that .a relativelylarge Emmj yedi ntion of the type described wherein the door has between the interior andexterior of the cabinet. 10 I10 exposed flanges- I'hese gaskets areusually of rubber r th r it- These and other objects of theinvention'and able resilient material, and, to properly seal the thevarious features and details of the construcrefrigerator, it isnecessary that such a gasket be tion and arrangement t reof e he ei a tecompressed sufliciently to form an air-tight seal fully Set forth anddescribed d Shown in e between the door and cabinet of the refrigerator.15 accompanying d aw in Which! 'To accomplish this compression of thedoor Figure 115 a diagrammatic fragmcntalfy View gasket without placinga substantially large in pir p ct e of a r e ise mtor r a hz t eu:-strain upon the door hinges, and to eliminate tiOIl d b m; 5 Own n Sec011 0 I1 ca 8 binding of the door when closing, it is desirable, the r im nt a d u j t ma f and has become more or less customary, to em- .20 einven 10 v ploy gaskets which have a thin-walled honow Figure 2 is anenlarged view in section taken b d of relatively large diameter which iseasily horizontally through a refrigerator door and gascompressed orflattened between the cabinet and ket constructed in accordance with thepresent its d h th tt is closed. inventiotn, the central porion o; thedoor having From the standpoint of function these gaskets cu away orremove an a are entirely satisfactory and eflectively seal the Figures3, 4, 5 and 6 comprise a group of fragdoor opening against. the passageof without mentary sectional views diagrammatically illusplacing unduestrain upon the door hinges trating the several steps 1n the fabricationand However, it is wen known that the head portion n assembly of thenovel refrigerator door and gasof gaskets, of this type are clearlyvisible even ket construction i when the refrigerator door is closedand, in order Referring now more partlcularly to the draw to. detract aslittle as possible from the external reference 33 3 fi g i i' appearanceof the refrigerator, it is desirable -gf i gg gfiggg g yg g g cor pwo ythat this head portion be relatively small. ,o

Further, it is desirable that the door and sealg gi m f g i fi of inggasket be so arranged that no flanges of the par C ar re gem or ere 5 '8mardoor panels are visible when the door is open gins; portions tsurmundmg the dour opening arranged in a fiat plane for engagement Theappearance of product of this type is by and compression of a doorgasket 5 when the 9 in importance only to the proper function 0 door 2is closed, the said door when closed overmg of the product lapping saidmarginal portionfl of the cabinet! Accordingly and with the foregoingobjects in as Shown v mind the principal object of the Present inven Thegasket 5 is formed of rubber or other fiextion is to provide arefrigeratordoor andgasket ib1e or resilient tq tm material constmcfionafiordmgPmper hn the comprises a thin-walled-bead portiont havingmgemtor cabinet against the circulation a an .arcuate or convexoutersealing face of relawithout the introduetionrof unnecessary strainstimely, large diameter anda 13p portion which the door hinges andWithout detracting from is ofiset and extends horizontally at the innerthe external DQEBIaf e r frigerator-cab: side or said bead portion 6 andis connected inet. thereto by a shankportion fl. Thus'there isprovidedaslotfor recess zbetweenasaidlip-portion?i and the head 5andspreferablyltl e latterhas 1 an outwardly oifset portionid arran 1935891,

" partially concealed ibyiiihesfianges ofsthe dooroutliedlangeofthedoor-for a-purpose'thatwill hereinafter appear.

The refrigerator door 2 comprises outer and inner sheet members orpanels l and H, respectively, the former being of sheet metal materialand the latter preferably of fibrous material or other similarheat-insulating composition. These panels to and H are arranged in therelation shownin the drawing with the aforesaid gasket interposedbetween their adjacent edge portions and the space between them filledwith suitable insulating material [2 such as mineral or'glass Wool, orthe like.

A bracket or member I3 is provided interiorly about the periphery of thedoor panel In comprising an intermediate flat body portion 54 and legportions l5 and I6 which project in opposite directions at right anglesfrom the respective sides of said body portion M. This bracket or member[3 extends continuously and is permanently secured about the internalperiphery of the door outer panel ill by welding the leg portion [5thereof to the inner surface of the flange portion I! of said outerpanel in such manner that the intermediate body portion l4 of saidbracket l3 projects inwardly of the door 2 in a plane perpendicular tothe said flange portion ll of the outer door member ID, as shown inFigure 3. The edge portion of this flange i1 is then turned or bentinwardly as indicated at Ila (see Figure 4) to a position parallel toand spaced outwardly from the bracket body portion IA.

The gasket 5 is next placed or mounted upon the inner door panel I I bystretching said gasket 5 thereover so that the peripheral edge portionsof said panel II are engaged in the slot or recess provided between thebead B and lip 1 of the gasket 5 in the relation shown in Figure 5, theinherent resilience of said gasket functioning to retain the latter onthe inner panel II.

This inner door panel II with its peripherally mounted gasket 5 is nowplaced within the outer panel ID of the door so that the underside ofthe gasket lip rests upon the outer surface of the bracket body portionH with the outwardly oilset portion 5a of the gasket-bead B lapped overthe outwardly facing surface of the inwardly turned flange portion Ilaof said outer panel Hi, all as shown in Figure 6 of the drawing.

With the several parts of the door thus assembled the bead portion 6 ofthe gasket may be lifted away from the inner door panel II and thelatter and said gasket secured by means of screws l8 to the outer doorpanel I0 through the body portion M of its bracket 13 at suitably spacedintervals thereabout.- V

The foregoing construction and assembly oi the refrigerator door andgasket is the same all the way about the door and this construction iswell suited to the mounting of hinges. It is only necessary to notch outa portion from the lip portion 1 and shank 8 of the gasket for a shortlength and provide an opening IS in the door flange l1 and bracket legI! through which a hinge tongue 20 can be inserted between the innerdoor panel I l and the bracket body portion ll, as shown in Figure 2 orthe drawing, The hinge tongue 20 is secured to the bracket body It bymeans of a screw II, and, as shown, a reinforcing or strengthening plate22 is preferably disposed at the opposite side of said bracketbodyportion I4 for the purpose ofproviding a stronger, more rigidsupport for the hinge. To provide a moisture-proof seal about the tongue20 it is preferred that the portion 23 of the gasket lip I be retainedwhen the same is notched for rec pflon 91 s id hinge tongue so that thecasket 76 will be continuous and unbroken'and will surround the hingetongue and be compressed into engagement with the latter when the innerpanel H is tightened against the bracket body M.

Another important advantage to be gained from this door and hingeconstruction is that a standard type hinge plate may be employed at thesame time enabling the hinge axis to be disposed forwardly of the planeof the front face of the cabinet and thus permit relatively easy closingof the door without binding and without setting up any shearing forceson the gasket 5. This is made possible by the'recessing of the bracketI3 inwardly of the intumed flange portion Ila of the door shell and thesecuring of the hinge tongue 20 to said bracket.

From the foregoing construction it will be seen that the provision ofthe inwardly offset bracket body portion it affords a recessed structureor support to which the gasket 5 and inner doorpanel H may be secured,with the result that the adjacent outwardly projecting flange portion i?of the outer door panel I 0 acts to conceal a substantial portion ofsaid gasket 5 so that only v the srhalloffset portion 6a of the beadportion 6 is visible when the completed refrigerator door 2 is closedagainst the cabinet I. Also, by turning the edge portion of flange I1inwardly, as Ila, a seat is provided for the offset portion of thegasket bead 6 and at the same time a refrigerator door is produced whichis entirely free from exposed flanges or other raw'edges.

Thus the refrigerator door and gasket construction of the presentinvention makes possible the use of a gasket having a, relatively largediameter bead thereby affording proper sealing of the door against thecirculation of air without unnecessarily straining the door hinges, andat the same time effectively conceals a good part of the gasket so thatwhen the door is closed only a small part of the bead is visible withthe result that the refrigerator is afforded an unusually neat, andfinished external appearance eminently appealing to the eye.

While a. particular embodiment of the present invention has been hereinillustrated and de-- scribed, it is not intended that said invention belimited to such disclosure but that changes and modifications may be,made and embodied therein within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a domestic refrigerator door comprisin an outer shell having anintumed marginal flange, and an inner panel member, a bracket membersecured to said outer shell and having a body portion offset inwardly ofand parallel to saidinturned marginal flange of the shell and underlyingthe edge portions of the inner panel member, and a resilient gasketmember comprising a lip portion interposed between the lapping portionsof the bracket and inner panel members, a head portion outwardlyoverlying both the allel tosaid inturned marginal flange of the allel tosaid inturned marginal flange oi the shell and underlying the edgeportions of the inner panel member, and a resilient gasket membercomprising a lip portion interposed between the lapping portions. of thebracket and inner panel members, a bead portion outwardly overlying boththe inturned marginal flange of the outer shell and the edge portions ofsaid inner panel, and a shank portion Joining said lip and said bead andextending outwardly between the edges of the outer shell inturnedmarginal flange and the inner panel member.

3. In a domestic refrigerator door comprising a dished-out outer shellhaving an inturned marginal flange extending substantially continuouslythereabout, and an inner panel member, a bracket member secured withinsaid outer shell and having a body portion extending continuously aboutthe shell and oflset inwardly 0i and parshell and underiying'the edgeportions 01 the inner panel member, and a resilient gasket membercomprising a lip portion interposed between i the lapping portions oi!the bracket and the inner panel members, a bead portion outwardlyoverlying both the inturned marginal flange of the outer shell and theedge portions of said inner panel, a shank portion joining said lip andsaid bead and'extending outwardly between the edges of the outer shellinturned marginal flange and the inner panel member, and means-securingthe inner panel member and said gasket to

